The Junkie
by Sweet Lu
Summary: Deeks' undercover assignment for the LAPD puts him in danger as he tries to save Callen and Sam.


**The Junkie**

The man walked quickly through the abandoned factory in the late afternoon heat. A brief gust of hot wind stirred the trash around his feet as he walked, his hand nervously tapping the side of his leg. His hair was long and dirty and hung over his forehead into his eyes. His filthy clothing was ragged and hung loosely on his gaunt frame. He limped slightly, giving him a shuffling gate and he constantly looked around as if he was afraid someone was after him. His pale, bloodshot eyes moved rapidly back and forth and he was constantly mumbling to himself as he walked. He seemed to know exactly where he was going as he passed through different rooms, some dark and dank and full of old machinery long out of use. When he reached a set of closed metal doors he stopped and knocked out a code and waited. The metal door screeched as it slid along its track and the dirty man entered and nodded briefly to the man who opened the door. His pace quickened as he neared a small interior office and he clasped his hands tightly together and his nervousness increased. A large, well-built man stepped out of the room and slammed his hand into the dirty man's chest, shoving him back, causing him to stumble and fall to his knees. He stayed where he had fallen and sat looking up as another man came out. He was dressed impeccably in a light grey suit and white shirt and he stood staring down at the dirty man with disgust on his face.

"You're late Colley," he said brusquely as he wiped the sweat from his face with a pure white handkerchief. A small, dark mustache and beard framed his mouth, giving him a cruel look that matched his dark penetrating eyes.

"I didn't...didn't mean to be...Mr. Garza," Colley answered rapidly as sweat coated his face. "I was...I was walkin' as fast as I could, you know...I was..."

"Shut up! Just give me the note Soto gave you." As Garza took the note, three other men joined him. "Looks like the weapons deal is going down after all. Soto met with his new contact at Pendleton and the guy has the inside deal on those stolen Stinger missiles."

"That's gonna make us a lot of money," one of the men said smiling.

"Yeah, but we got to split it with Soto," another man said angrily.

"Not necessarily," Garza smiled cunningly as he motioned the men back into his office.

"Mr. Garza?" Colley whined as he got to his feet. "You promised...promised me some Black Beauties...if I...you know...if I passed those notes...those notes for ya...'member?"

Garza stared at the junkie with dark, unblinking eyes and then walked into his office and picked up a small glassine bag and tossed it to him.

"Stick around, Colley, I have one more run for you," Garza said pointing a finger at the junkie as he scrambled to pick up the drugs.

Colley limped to a chair just outside the office and waited. His foot constantly drummed on the floor and he mumbled to himself as his hands fidgeted with the small bag of drugs in his pocket.

It was almost dark before Garza came out with an envelope and Colley immediately jumped up, eager to be off.

"Drop it off with Soto, then you get back here within the hour." Garza grabbed his shirt and yanked him close. "If I find out you didn't make the drop and did those Black Beauties instead, no more drugs, you hear me?"

Colley nodded rapidly as he shoved the envelope in the back pocket of his jeans. "Okay...Okay...Okay."

Then he was off, rapidly shuffling out past the metal door and into the hot confines of the abandoned factory. When he heard the door slide closed, his paced quickened. He moved silently into a darkening room with a small window that let in a little of the rapidly disappearing light. As he sat down under it he looked around to make sure he was alone and carefully opened the clasp on the envelope. Reading quickly, he slowly let his breath out and leaned back against the wall. He closed his pale blue eyes for a moment and then put the note back in the envelope and moved hurriedly out of the building. Once clear, he rounded a corner and ducked into a brick outbuilding, checking to make sure he was alone. Pulling an old desk back from the wall, he removed a cell phone from behind a brick in the corner and slowly sat down.

"Bates, stolen Stinger missiles are involved," he said softly and then listened and nodded and then hung up. Again, he was on his feet, rapidly moving out of the building and down the deserted street.

...

"Hetty!" Eric Beale said anxiously into the phone. "I've lost contact with Callen and Sam."

"Where were they?" Hetty asked as she entered Ops. Her voice was calm, but Eric and Nell could tell she was agitated by the news.

"They had just spoken with an informant about a man named Soto, when both their phones went dead." Eric was rapidly typing into his computer to try and find cameras in the area, but it was dark now, and he couldn't find anything that showed what had happened to them.

"Find Kensi, Mr. Beale, and send a backup with her to the informant's address." Hetty braced herself against the table as she heard Kensi's acknowledgement. All they could do now was wait to hear from her. Hetty's phone buzzed and she quickly answered.

"Miss Lange, it's Lieutenant Bates. I just heard that one of our undercover operations involves stolen Stinger missiles. Are you working it already or do you need more information?"

"Lieutenant, I've just lost contact with two of my agents working that case," Hetty said slowly. "Does your man know anything about that?"

"He didn't mention anything." Bates paused and then said, "Deeks is my undercover."

"Can you contact him?"

"No."

"Thank you, Lieutenant Bates. Keep me posted, please." Hetty sighed as she hung up. "Deeks is undercover for LAPD on this case. He just called Bates to let him know that Stinger missiles were involved, but doesn't know anything about Callen and Sam."

"Eric?" Kensi was calling from the informant's apartment and Eric put her on speaker. "The informant's dead." She hesitated and they could tell she was breathing hard and her voice was ripe with anger and a hint of fear. "There's no sign of Callen or Sam, but there is a lot of blood here that's not near the informant's body." She paused again and everyone held their breath until she finally continued. "I think they've been wounded. There appears to be a blood trail out the back to a parking area. I think whoever did this, has taken them."

Everyone in ops became deadly silent.

...

"Sam, can you hear me?" Callen struggled to get close to his partner. His hands were tied tightly behind his back and the bullet wound in his shoulder hindered his movement. They were in the back of a van and he could barely see Sam as he lay on the floor. He had seen Sam go down just before he'd been shot, but he couldn't tell how badly he was wounded. He knew he was alive, or he wouldn't be in the van.

"Sam?" He tried once more to get a response, just as the van stopped.

The doors were opened wide and three men pulled Sam to the ground, then two more came in and hauled Callen out, pushing him toward a metal door that slid open with a screeching sound. He quickly looked at Sam as they were dragged into the room. He was bleeding from a wound in his back but he opened his eyes and silently acknowledged Callen as they were shoved onto the floor in front of a dark, bearded man.

"Well, who do we have here?" Garza had Callen pulled to his feet and stood in front of him with his hands on his hips. When he got no response, he motioned one of his guards toward Callen. The large man slugged Callen in the mouth, knocking him to the floor.

"What the hell is NCIS?" Garza asked as the large guard pulled him back to his feet. He had both agents' badges in his hands and a quizzical look on his face.

"Federal agents." Callen knew they were as good as dead, but wondered why they had been brought here at all.

"Because of the Stinger missiles?"

Callen nodded. "What do you want?" he asked Garza. "Just curious as to why you haven't killed us."

"I'll get to that, but I have some questions first." Garza moved over to Sam where he lay on the floor. "Do you like your partner?"

"He has his moments," Callen's eyes were intense as he warily watched the arms dealer as he walked around Sam.

"If you don't answer my questions, your partner will be the one who pays the price, understand?" Then Garza viciously kicked Sam and Callen lunged at him. He was stopped short by three guards and beaten to the floor. Again he was pulled to his feet in front of Garza just as the metal door opened.

Callen tried to catch his breath as he watched a dirty-looking man with stringy hair, limp and shuffle toward the man in front of him. He was mumbling to himself and nervously tapping his hand against his leg and holding a large envelope in the other. He looked totally strung out on drugs or in need of some, Callen wasn't sure which.

"I got here...fast...fast this time...Mr. Garza." There was something familiar about him, but Callen's eye was starting to swell shut so he couldn't get a good look at him. The junkie looked over at Callen and then at Sam lying on the floor, and Callen saw pale blue eyes flash in anger under greasy blond hair and Callen almost gasped in surprise as he looked into the filthy face of Marty Deeks.

Garza grabbed the envelope from Colley and stepped away. He became agitated as he read the contents and when he was done he yelled for his partners and they went into the office and closed the door. One of the three guards shoved Callen to the floor and then turned to Colley and pushed him away.

"Get out'a here you fuckin' junkie," the guard said as he continued to push Colley toward the back of the old factory. Finally, Colley sat on the floor up against the wall and began mumbling and tapping his hand on the concrete floor and staring up at the clerestory windows dark against the sky.

When Garza and his partners came out of the office and told the three guards they were going out and to watch the prisoners, nobody paid any attention to the junkie sitting against the back wall. After they left, Colley got up and walked into a back room that was used as a kitchen.

Deeks leaned against the sink and tried to calm his racing heart. He had been so stunned to see Callen and Sam he had almost blown his own cover. He knew when he read the last message that they were probably working to find the stolen missiles, he just hadn't expected to find them here as captives and seeing them both wounded had shocked him. He had never seen them taken down, although he knew Callen had been shot before. Now he had to get them out of here while he still could.

He reached under the sink and pulled out the gun he had hidden. He blew out his breath and mentally prepared himself to take down three armed men. He didn't second-guess himself, because he knew he was their only hope of survival, so he had to be perfect in his attack.

He walked out of the kitchen with his gun in position. He eased slowly along the wall, keeping himself hidden as he checked each guard's position. They were spread out, one with his back to him and one slightly facing him, while the third was standing over Callen. He moved swiftly into the room, firing from right to left, taking the first two out in turn. Callen had immediately reacted to the gunfire, kicking at the man standing over him and knocking him off balance. But the guard righted himself quickly, firing at Deeks as he moved towards him, hitting him in the side before Deeks had a chance to fire at him. Callen cried out when he saw Deeks go down, but watched in admiration as Deeks returned fire immediately as he lay on the floor, killing the guard with two bullets to the chest.

Deeks lay quietly for a minute and Callen thought he had passed out but then he saw him struggle to his feet, holding his hand over the wound in his side.

"Callen, you okay?" Deeks shouted as he moved slowly toward the two agents, dropping down on his knees to quickly check on Callen. His heart was pounding as he stared at the wounded agent.

"I almost didn't recognize you Deeks," he whispered. "Sam's bad. We need to get him out of here."

Deeks immediately moved to Sam and checked for a pulse. "Sam, can you hear me?" Deeks swallowed hard and tried to tamp down his fear as he felt for life. "He's still alive, Callen, but he's unconscious and bleeding pretty bad."

"You okay, Deeks?" Callen asked.

"I'll be fine," he grunted as he helped Callen to his feet and over to a chair. But Callen could see he was in pain and laboring to deal with it. Deeks quickly found a knife and cut them both free.

"Good shooting," Callen was impressed with the way Deeks had wasted no time in taking control of a bad situation. It had surprised him actually, and he realized it shouldn't have.

"Did they take your cell phones?" Deeks was going through the guards' pockets as he asked. Callen nodded and Deeks finally found them in the first guard's pocket.

"Eric, it's Deeks. I've got Callen and Sam, but they're badly wounded."

"Mr. Deeks, where are you?" Hetty's voice cut into the conversation immediately.

"An abandoned factory down by the port that Jose Garza uses for gun running", he answered. "Hetty, don't send an ambulance, just send a car." Deeks said quickly. "I'm staying undercover, or we'll never retrieve the missiles."

"Your cover's not blown?" Hetty wanted more information, but went with the judgment of her agent in the field, even if he wasn't a true agent just yet.

"I took out three guards, but Garza will be back soon, and if I play it right he'll think outsiders attacked this place and took Callen and Sam." Deeks looked at Callen and saw the doubt in his eyes as he held his hand out for the phone. Deeks handed it to him, but he knew he was right.

"Hetty, it's Callen. I'm putting you on speaker so we can discuss this."

"You know it's our only play, Callen." Deeks said quietly.

"Status Mr. Callen." Hetty demanded.

"I'm wounded in the shoulder, and Sam's been shot in the back and is unconscious. We've both lost a lot of blood." Callen searched Deeks' face for any sign of doubt. "Hetty, Deeks is wounded too."

"Callen, I'm good. Besides, it will help my cover story." Deeks looked at Callen with determination and he knew Deeks was right that there was no other choice.

"Callen, take me off speaker," Hetty commanded and then asked him privately, "Can he pull this off or is he hurt too badly?"

"Yes to the first part and no, I don't think so to the second part." Callen looked at Deeks who had a pensive look on his face as he waited for their verdict.

"Okay, I'll send Kensi with the car. Have Deeks call with detailed instructions on your location." Then Hetty was gone.

"You're on, Deeks." Callen slumped back into the chair and closed his eyes. The blood loss and pain was starting to get to him, but he fought through it.

"Good, then we better move before Garza gets back. Can you help me lift Sam?" Callen nodded and steeled himself for the effort it was going to take, but he had no choice.

Deeks and Callen knelt on either side of Sam. He had lost a lot of blood and his breathing was coming in shallow gasps that worried Callen. They strained to get him up, then supported him between them and slowly dragged his body toward the hallway by the kitchen.

"How much does he weigh?" Deeks grunted as he stumbled down the hall.

"I don't know, but it's all muscle," Callen groaned as he struggled to keep his footing. His vision was going grey and he was afraid he was going to pass out when they finally reached the back door at the end of the hall. They dropped Sam to the floor and he moaned softly at impact.

"I hope he doesn't remember that we dropped him." Deeks smiled briefly at Callen, who smirked in return. Then Deeks was on the phone with directions for Kensi.

They waited nervously in the dark, hoping the first sound they heard was Kensi at the back door instead of Garza and his men at the front.

"You look like shit, Deeks," Callen was amazed at his transformation into a believable junkie.

"Right now, so do you," Deeks was starting to seriously worry about both agents. Callen's skin was starting to look very pale and his breathing was almost as bad as Sam's.

"Sam always tells me I don't say thank you enough when someone saves my ass," Callen said weakly. "Thanks, Deeks, for both of us."

"Are you telling me that because you don't think you're ever going to see me again?" Deeks raised an eyebrow and a grin played around his mouth.

"No. I think you're damn good at this job, Deeks. Hetty was right about you."

"Isn't she usually right about everything?" Deeks suddenly turned at a sound outside. He gingerly got to his feet and opened the door, smiling as he saw Kensi and two large tactical squad members hurrying towards him.

"Glad you brought the big guys, Sam's really heavy." Deeks smiled at seeing her after two months undercover.

"You look like shit, Deeks," she tried to stifle her own smile, but a warm feeling flooded through her at his brief touch on her arm.

"Everybody keeps saying that." He gasped sharply as she put her arm around his waist.

"Deeks, you're wounded!" Her face clouded with worry as she examined the bleeding wound in his side.

"I'm good, Kens. Just get Sam and Callen to the hospital as quick as possible." He placed his hand on her cheek and stared softly into her worried eyes. "I'd kiss you, Kens, but I haven't brushed my teeth in two months." His lopsided grin was all she needed to see and she kissed him quickly on the cheek and then wrinkled her nose at the smell of him.

"I brought you an audio bug and an earwig," Kensi said, quickly getting back to business. "Eric will be monitoring you and I will be close by when you need me."

"I'll always need you, Kens," he whispered, looking at her with such a serious look that she felt a tinge of fear in her stomach. He let his hand linger on her arm and she covered it with hers, realizing once again how much he meant to her and how frightened she was when he was on assignment alone with the LAPD. She left him reluctantly, but glad for the monitoring equipment that now connected them.

"Deeks, watch yourself," Callen said as he was helped into the back of the van next to Sam. He hated leaving him here alone, but he knew they had no choice, but that didn't stop him from worrying. Deeks had grown on him and on Sam too. He was an integral part of the team now and someone they both cared about. He had saved both their lives tonight at the risk of his own and without question. When this op was over, he intended to sit down and convince him that it was time to become a full time agent. Deeks had proven he was too good to remain a cop and Callen was pretty sure he knew that too. Now, all he had to do was survive this assignment, and that wasn't going to be easy.

...

When Garza and his men returned and opened the sliding metal door they were greeted with three dead guards and no prisoners. His men quickly checked the interior, following the blood trail that led to the back door. Garza glanced into the kitchen and saw his runner Colley lying on the floor in a pool of blood. As one of his guards checked for a pulse, they heard him groan.

"Colley, wake up!" Garza slapped his face a couple of times before he opened his eyes. The junkie jerked back from him, scrambling away in fear and plastering himself against the wall.

"Don't shoot...don't shoot me again...please." Colley was holding his side and his hands were covered in his own blood.

"Colley, we're not going to shoot you. Just tell us who did this," Garza's tone softened as he saw the fear in the junkie's eyes. He motioned for his men to bring him into the main room. Two guards helped him to his feet and he moaned softly as they dragged him out of the kitchen and finally sat him down in a chair by the table. He recoiled from the dead body by his feet and he saw one of the guards laugh. He seemed to freeze as he stared at the dead man and his hands began to shake.

Garza slapped him hard across the face and he tumbled to the floor. The guards yanked him to his feet and he stared in fear at Garza.

"Tell me what happened, now Colley!" Garza said harshly into his face.

"A bunch...bunch of guys...came in...they came in...the back...back there," Colley pointed and his hands shook and his foot drummed on the floor as he tried to relate what had happened. "I hid...I hid in the kitchen...and there was shooting...lots of shooting...I hid..but...but...they saw me...saw me when they were leaving...they shot me." He stopped shaking when he was finished and looked at Garza with a frightened glint in his eyes.

"I think...I think I saw a...couple of Soto's guys...one shot me...he shot me." Colley seemed to collapse into himself as Garza stared at him. "And...and some guys...some guys were cops...I know cops."

"Are you sure it was Soto's guys working with the cops?" Garza's voice was heavy with venom as he grabbed Colley by the shirt and pulled him close. When Colley nodded, Garza shoved him towards the guards, who dragged him over to a corner and dropped him to the floor. They all seemed to ignore him after that as Garza began to pace and shout obscenities into the darkening gloom of the old factory.

Deeks listened as Garza talked with his partner's and then finally he put in a call to Soto. Garza told him what had happened, but he told him he thought it must have been Federal agents who had attacked his men and retrieved their agents, then he confirmed the meet here at the factory they had set up earlier with his contact at Pendleton.

"Soto's working with the cops and maybe even the Feds," Garza fumed. "That's what I suspected for a long time. It's why I grabbed those two NCIS agents. They must have been working with Soto all along."

"Are we gonna kill him when he gets here?" One of the partners asked.

"Yeah, as soon as they're all inside the door, except for the Pendleton guy," Garza said. "Soto thinks everybody who can identify his men is dead, so he won't suspect anything."

"What about Colley?"

He looked toward the junkie and saw that he had passed out and was lying motionless by the back wall.

"He looks dead," Garza laughed. "Leave him be for now. We wouldn't have known Soto was workin' with the cops if it wasn't for him."

Deeks lay quietly listening as he pretended to be unconscious. He knew that it wouldn't be long before Garza decided to get rid of him, but for now he was safe. He wasn't too sure how long he could stay here and survive. He decided he had better plant the bug somewhere other than on his clothing so if something happened to him or he was forced to leave, OSP would still be able to monitor the situation. He managed to attach it to the leg of one of the chairs without anyone noticing and went back to playing dead.

He hoped Hetty would approve of his decision to implicate Soto, even if it meant he had signed the man's death warrant. It narrowed down the number of people involved and forced the missile supplier to deal directly with Garza who they now had under surveillance. If the missiles were delivered here, they would be able to recover them in one single raid.

He could feel himself getting weaker as he continued to lose blood. The pain had lessened somewhat, but his mind began to swirl and spin and it scared him. As his mind wandered, he found himself wishing he could talk to Kensi and find out if Sam had made it and if Callen was doing all right. He had never had anyone to worry about before coming to NCIS, at least not after his mom died. He had been on his own for so long, it had surprised him how shaken he had been when he saw the wounded agents lying at Garza's feet. He was used to worrying about Kensi, but she was his partner and so much more. Callen and Sam were so good at their jobs he just never thought to worry about them before. He began to comprehend just how important they had become to him, especially since he'd had no brothers growing up. He had always longed for a brother, for someone to look up to and to emulate and maybe protect him from his father. He realized he had begun to think of Callen and Sam as brothers. He was pretty sure they didn't think of him that way, but he couldn't help but want to model himself after them. They were good men and he was proud to call them friends, if not brothers. And it felt good to be the one who had saved their lives tonight. He had been willing to die for them, just like a brother should.

Now, as he lay all alone in this cold old factory, all he could think about was how bad Sam had looked and how weak Callen seemed as they carried Sam to the back. He was very worried about them. He couldn't imagine working at NCIS without either one of them. He knew they were all counting on him now, and he didn't want to let them down.

The pounding knock on the metal door shook him out of his reverie and he opened his eyes and watched Soto and four of his men entered the room. Next to Soto was a tough looking Marine dressed in khakis. Garza, his three partners and two guards were spread out in a semicircle.

"This the guy who wants to sell us some missiles?" Garza asked walking toward them.

"Yeah. This is Staff Sergeant Kane." Soto looked very uncertain and kept looking at the dead guards.

"Well, Kane, why don't you come into my office and we can talk money." Garza moved up next to the Staff Sergeant and ushered him into the small office. As soon as they were inside all hell broke loose.

Garza's men opened fire on Soto and his men and bullets were flying everywhere. Deeks saw two of Soto's men go down immediately and one of Garza's partner's was killed by Soto himself. The sound of the firefight was deafening, and stray bullets shattered the chair next to Deeks and he knew the audio bug was no longer viable. He began to inch back along the wall when a bullet caught him in the leg. He gasped as the pain streaked through his body and he fought to stay conscious. Without the audio bug, he knew he was now the only source of information about the missile delivery. He had to stay alive and conscious until he could pass on that intel.

As he looked out over the factory, he saw that Soto and his men were all down.

"Deeks, status!" Eric sounded tense as he spoke into his ear. "We lost audio. Are you okay?"

"Good!" he said as softly as he could. He should have let them know somehow that he had removed the audio bug from his body. They must have thought he'd been shot when it went dead. He'd apologize later, he hoped. Luckily, nobody paid him any attention as Garza and the Marine came out of the office.

"Looks like you only have me to deal with Sergeant," Garza said smiling at the Marine.

"I'll deal with whoever pays me," Kane replied and they shook hands.

"When can you deliver the missiles?" Garza asked.

"How's tomorrow at noon?" Kane looked smug as he shook hands with Garza. "Just have the agreed upon price ready to transfer to my account and those missiles are all yours."

...

Deeks jerked awake as two men approached with Garza. He was angry with himself for passing out but now he tried to keep sharp as the guards pulled him to his feet.

"Looks like you took another bullet, Colley," Garza stared at the blood pooling on the floor. "You won't be much of a runner with two bad legs, will ya?" Garza laughed and patted the junkie's shoulder.

"Dump him in one of the outbuildings," Garza said as he walked away.

"You want us to finish him off?"

"Nah, why waste a bullet on a junkie, he'll bleed out eventually," Garza called back over his shoulder.

Deeks felt extremely weak as he struggled to remain standing. The two guards dragged him roughly down the back hall and out the back door. Many different sized outbuildings were scattered around the main factory. Some were full of machinery and most were filled with debris and discarded boxes and pallets. Deeks' head was swimming as they carried him along until he finally passed out and went limp as they dragged him inside one of the larger brick outbuildings and dropped him behind a large machine covered in cobwebs. The floor was filthy and littered with broken bottles and trash. Weeds grew up between the cracks in the concrete and moved slowly in the warm summer wind. They left him there, bleeding in the dust.

...

Callen came out of surgery and Hetty sat by his bed until he woke up. She knew he hated hospitals after the length of time he'd had to spend in one the last time he was shot. The doctors gave her a good report and she was confident he would be up and out a lot sooner than they expected. He was never one to lie around enjoying the jello.

"Hetty, have you heard anything about Sam?" His blue eyes were intense and the worry was evident on his face.

"He's still in surgery, Mr. Callen." Hetty stood and moved close to the bed. She reached down and patted his hand and sighed deeply. "I was worried we might have lost you both."

"You would have if it hadn't been for Deeks." Callen laid his head back and shook his head and smiled slightly. "You should have seen him, Hetty. It was a classic takedown of multiple shooters. He moved fast and smooth and he was deadly accurate even after he took a bullet. He's a natural."

"You sound surprised, Mr. Callen."

"I'm usually in the middle of a firefight where we're all shooting at the same time," Callen said softly. "This time I could just observe him. He needs to become an agent, Hetty. The sooner the better."

"He has the papers," she told him and noted the knowing smirk as it appeared on his face.

"I didn't recognize him at first," Callen still marveled at that. "He looked and acted just like a junkie and boy, was he filthy."

Kensi came in when he said that and she smiled slightly at the memory of just how awful Deeks had looked.

"I just talked to the surgeon and Sam's going to be okay." Kensi informed them. She saw the flood of relief in Callen's eyes.

"Now, we only have one to worry about," Hetty said solemnly.

"Has Eric heard from him, Kens?" Callen sat up straight as he saw the anxious look on her face.

"There was a firefight and the audio bug went out. Eric thought Deeks was dead there for a minute, but he answered his status call." Kensi's eyes briefly watered with tears as she spoke. "All he said was 'good'."

"Anything since?" Callen was concerned.

"No, nothing," Kensi's voice choked slightly and Hetty looked deadly serious. They were silent after that. They all knew it would be a long night.

...

Deeks came to slowly and moaned softly as he tried to sit up. The pain was pulsating in his leg and he was so lightheaded he felt like he was floating. He grabbed onto the piece of machinery and pulled himself to a sitting position. He waited for his heart to stop pounding as he gasped for breath.

"Eric?" He said weakly.

"Deeks, where have you been?" Eric practically shouted into the com-link. "I've been calling you for over an hour." Deeks thought he sounded a little pissed.

"Just resting, Eric."

"Sorry, Deeks. I was worried."

"Listen Eric. The missiles are being delivered here tomorrow at noon. They dumped me in an outbuilding, so I'm out of the line of fire." He gave him as much information about the number of men he thought would be involved and the name of the Marine selling the missiles. Then he paused as he failed to stifle a soft moan that escaped just as he finished speaking.

"Roger that, Deeks. Are you okay?" Deeks could hear the concern in his voice.

"I took a bullet in the leg."

"Should we come and get you?"

"You know you can't do that, Eric, but thanks. How are Sam and Callen?" He gasped as pain coursed up through his leg and his breathing became labored as he tried to stay conscious.

"They're both gonna be okay. Now, everyone's just worried about you."

"Tell them I'm thinking about them," he whispered.

"Deeks?"

"Yeah, Eric?"

"Hang in there man."

"I will. Eric can you give Kensi a message for me? Just in case I don't make it."

"Go. I'm recording." Eric felt tears spring in his eyes.

"I wish I'd brushed my teeth today so I could have kissed you tonight. I've missed you. Always remember how much I love you, Kens."

Deeks felt a wave of pain sweep through his body as he finished his message and he gripped a piece of the machine and tried to ride it out, but it overwhelmed him and dark clouds filled his mind and he slowly slipped into unconsciousness and fell sideways onto the dusty floor.

"Deeks! Deeks?" Eric got no answer and fear choked him as he quickly called Hetty.

...

He woke as a hot wind stirred the debris around him. He strained to sit up but he didn't have the strength and only managed to roll onto his back. Sweat covered his body as the hot Santa Ana winds blew trash and dust through the open door of the old factory outbuilding. God, it was hot, he thought. He had trouble breathing the air was so hot. Flies circled the dried blood on his side and he looked to see if his leg wound had stopped bleeding, but sweat stung his eyes and he lay back down. He didn't know what time it was and he wondered if the raid had happened or if it was still too early. It was gonna be a scorcher today, he thought as his mind slowly faded to grey.

...

"Eric, anything?" Kensi asked for the tenth time.

"I tried, Kensi, but he just isn't answering,"

She knew they couldn't start searching for him until after the raid without blowing the operation, and that had her on edge. She didn't think she could stand it, but she did because that was her job. Callen had told her he wasn't hit that badly, but combined with the second wound; she knew he must have lost a lot of blood. At least he was out of the line of fire, but where he was exactly, nobody knew.

"Damn, it's hot!" she said angrily at no one in particular. She wished they would get the go signal so she could take out her frustration on some of these gun dealers. She felt like kicking ass right now.

"Go! Go!" Eric yelled in her ear and she and the tactical squad hit the door running.

The raid was a complete surprise and a couple of Garza's guards were killed but most of the men surrendered. The Marine was the only one who tried to make a run for it. Kensi chased him down and bashed his head into a brick wall and then turned him over to another agent. She raced back to the center of the building as the squad was handcuffing Jose Garza.

"Where's the runner you used?" she asked as she pulled him around to face her.

"Who?" Garza looked puzzled for a minute. "Oh, you mean Colley?"

"Yeah, where is he" Kensi started pushing him back rapidly until he was up against the back wall.

"What do you want that junkie for?" Garza was genuinely curious.

"Just tell me where you took him!" Kensi was getting pissed, which made Garza even more curious.

"Tell me why you're interested in him and I might tell you where he is," Garza laughed. Kensi hit him in the mouth and his eyes darkened with rage.

"He was bleeding out, right where we're standing, sweetheart," Garza growled. "A couple of my guys dumped him in one of the outbuildings to die. He was a filthy junkie. Don't tell me he was an informant." Garza's eyes widened at the thought.

"He's an undercover cop, you piece of shit," Kensi wanted to pound him into the ground.

"You're lying!" Garza lunged at her and she stepped aside as he charged, kicking him and shoving him to the ground.

"He's the one that gave us the intel for this raid," She shouted down at him. "And he's the one that killed your three guards and rescued the two Federal agents you shot and kidnapped."

"Colley wasn't a junkie?" One of Garza's partner's asked in surprise. "He sure fooled me. Hell, he fooled all of us."

"Too bad he's dead, sweetheart," Garza was dragged to his feet by a couple of squad members and laughed as they led him away.

"Eric, anything from Deeks?"

"Sorry, Kens."

She started rounding up every loose agent and squad member she could find and a couple of willing cops and began searching every outbuilding. She wouldn't accept that he was dead as she raced through the heat yelling his name.

...

Deeks came to again, confused by where he was. The air shimmered with heat and he thought he heard someone yelling his name. Then he felt a dull ache in his side and he remembered he had been shot. Who shot me, he wondered as the pain sharpened. I gotta get out of here. He rolled onto his stomach and began to crawl toward the open door. His left leg was stiff and fatigue flooded his body as the light got brighter and brighter and he collapsed as the world began to spin and large brilliant spots danced in his vision.

"Deeks!" Someone shouted loudly in his ear and he jumped and raised his head. His mouth was so dry he couldn't get any words to come out, so he just started crawling again. The hot wind blew dust into his eyes as he crawled slowly forward toward the distant opening.

"Deeks!" This time the voice sounded familiar, but far away. Heat radiated off the concrete floor as he pushed broken bottles out of his way as he moved. The dust made him cough and he couldn't stop. It exhausted him and he lay his head down on his forearms to rest.

...

"We've checked all the buildings, Kensi. We can't find him." A squad leader told her quietly.

"He has to be here, do you hear me?" Kensi wanted to punch the man, but she saw only sadness in his eyes and that made her even more determined to find Deeks. "Search them all again!"

She pushed him away and went over to lean against the side of one of the buildings, breathing hard in the simmering heat. She knew everyone was tired, especially in this weather, but she wouldn't give up until she found him.

Then she heard someone coughing softly and she looked up, but there was no one close by. She listened carefully and she heard it again and turned back toward a larger brick building that had already been searched. She was sure that's where the cough was coming from and she walked slowly to the open door. Inside was a large old machine covered in cobwebs that fluttered in the hot swirling wind. She stepped quietly inside, pausing to listen, but hearing only the buzzing of flies. Then she heard what sounded like a glass bottle scraping on concrete and she moved quickly toward the sound. As she stepped around the end of the old machine she saw him slowly dragging himself along the dirty floor.

"Deeks?" She spoke softly and then ran to him with tears streaking through the sweat on her face.

She knelt down next to him and spoke his name again and he stopped and looked up at her.

"Kensi?" His voice was just a whisper and his face was dirty with sweat, but he looked wonderful to her as she held his face in her hands. He smiled before he laid his head down in her lap and passed out.

"Eric, I found him," she said softly as she brushed his filthy hair out of his eyes and slowly stroked the soft stubble on his cheek.

...

Epilogue

"Well, you sure look better," Callen smiled as he rolled himself into Deeks' room in a wheelchair.

"Amazing what a little soap and hot water will do," Deeks laughed lightly.

"He smells a whole lot better too," Kensi joined the critique of her partner's recent alias.

"Want to see my clean, white teeth?" Deeks smiled broadly as Kensi clapped in appreciation.

Deeks suddenly became serious as he looked at Callen.

"How's Sam?" He was still worried. He had been in the hospital three days, and they still wouldn't let him out of bed to go see Sam.

"He's still sleeping a lot, but the doctor says he'll recover." Callen noticed how concerned Deeks still looked. "He's okay, Deeks."

"I was so shocked when I saw you guys all shot up like that," Deeks said softly. "I guess I thought you two were invincible."

"You know better than that, Deeks," Callen said, shaking his head.

"Yeah, I guess I do," he said solemnly. Callen thought he looked a little melancholy today and wondered why.

"Kensi, can you give us a minute?" Callen asked. She didn't look happy about it, but nodded and reluctantly left the room.

"Deeks, I want to talk to you about becoming a Federal agent." Callen noted the guarded look that slowly appeared on the young cop's face and it surprised him. "I know Hetty has done all the paperwork and that all you have to do is sign it, so I want to know why you haven't."

"I'm not sure I'm up to talking about that right now," Deeks seemed to retreat into himself as he looked at Callen with a cautious look in his eyes.

"Are you feeling all right?" Callen asked. "You seem a little down today."

"I'm fine," His tone was dismissive and edged with bitterness.

Callen wasn't sure he should continue, since something was definitely bothering him.

"Tell me what's wrong, Deeks." Callen was starting to feel somewhat confused by Deeks' manner.

"I'll handle it, Callen. It's really nothing you can do anything about anyway." Deeks wouldn't look at him as he spoke.

"Deeks, I owe you my life. You can tell me anything and if I can help, I will." Callen was starting to get exasperated with him.

"It's not your problem," Deeks said softly.

"I would have agreed with you four days ago, but then you saved my life and Sam's life. That changes everything, Deeks, don't you know that?" Callen saw tears fill Deeks eyes and then watched as he roughly brushed them away.

"I did what I was supposed to do, nothing more." Deeks lay back on his pillow and stared vacantly at the ceiling.

"So saving our lives didn't mean anything to you? Is that what you're telling me?" Callen's voice rose as he spoke.

"No! Callen, I didn't mean it that way." Deeks looked quickly at him in distress. "I just meant that you should have expected me to do that as a member of your team. It's what you guys do all the time for each other, so why should it be special when I save your life?"

"You're right. I shouldn't be surprised at what you did, but you saved Sam's life too, and that made it special to me." Callen's eyes were intense and watered with angry tears as he tried to explain. "When we were ambushed, I didn't protect him the way I'm suppose to. I let him get shot and I was sure I would have to watch him die in that factory. Do you know how terrified I was by that, Deeks? I've never felt so helpless and guilty in my whole life."

Deeks looked stunned by what Callen had told him and he was silenced by what he was sharing. He had never heard Callen talk like this. He was sure no one had.

"When I realized that it was you standing there instead of a strung out junkie, I was shocked," Callen continued in a hushed voice. "But I also felt relieved and confident that you would do whatever it took to save us. And you did and I was proud of you."

When Deeks heard Callen say he was proud of him, tears blurred his vision and he stared in amazement at the senior agent. No man had ever said that to him before and it touched him deeply. When he was finally sure he could control himself, he looked Callen in the eye and told him what was happening.

"Lieutenant Bates came by to see me after I got out of surgery," he said calmly. "He was royally pissed at me and told me I would be on suspension for a month after I recovered."

"That bastard!" Callen interrupted in anger. "Why would he suspend you?"

"He said my loyalty during the end of the operation had been to NCIS and not the LAPD," Deeks said "And he wanted me to know that I needed to get my priorities straight."

"He told you this right after surgery?" Callen went white with anger, knowing what bad shape Deeks had been in when Kensi found him and how exhausted and weak he was after surgery. It blew his mind that Bates would burden Deeks with that kind of news so soon after he had almost died.

"He also told me that after I served my suspension, he was removing me from the liaison position with NCIS." His head dropped to his chest and he sighed deeply and shook his head. "I don't know what to do, Callen. I've always prided myself on being a cop, but now I'm torn between NCIS and remaining a cop. I have to choose one or the other."

"No one can make that decision for you, Deeks." Callen stood up next to his bed and gripped his arm. "But know that we want you with us."

"Do all of you feel that way, even Sam?" Deeks looked skeptically at Callen and the senior agent knew Deeks needed Sam's approval before he would make his decision.

"Let's go ask him."

"What? Now?"

"You've been lazing around eating jello long enough," Callen smiled as he pushed the nurse's call button.

The nurse smiled and shook her head at the determined looks on the two men's faces as she called the doctor for permission to let Deeks out of bed. When she got it, she began to remove all the IV's and monitors and ordered another wheelchair to be brought in for Deeks.

"Where are you two going?" Kensi asked as she poked her head in the doorway.

"We are going to visit Sam, "Callen said as he wheeled himself out. Kensi pushed Deeks out behind him and the procession began. When they arrived at Sam's room, Hetty was just going in. Now, it was officially a team meeting.

Sam was propped up on pillows eating a cup of green jello. Seeing such a large man eating such a tiny cup of jello caused Callen to start laughing and brought a frown to Sam's face.

"What's so funny?" he bellowed.

"It's going to take a lot of that stuff to fill you up, Sam." Callen smirked as he noticed six empty cups lined up on the tray table.

"It's all they let me have." he whined pathetically. Then he noticed Deeks looking down and fiddling with his bandage. Sam thought he looked sad and distracted, so he put down his jello.

"Hey Deeks, how you doin'?"

"I'm good," he said quietly and looked uncertainly at Callen.

Callen laid his hand on Deeks' arm and told them what Bates had said to Deeks and when. He thought Hetty was going to explode and Kensi just looked shocked.

"Why would he do that?" Kensi angrily asked as she put her hands on Deeks' shoulders to comfort him.

"Because he's a bloody prick, that's why," Hetty spit out. Then she put her hand on Deeks' arm and looked at him solemnly. "Things have changed, Mr. Deeks."

"Yeah, Hetty, they have and now I have to choose." Deeks ran his hand shakily over his beard. "But I don't want go where I'm not wanted."

"Then you better become a full time member of our team, Deeks," Sam said calmly. "Because you belong with us."

"Are you sure, Sam?" Deeks had a small tentative smile playing around his mouth.

"We're all sure, Mr. Deeks." Hetty said patting his arm.

Then the lopsided grin they had all come to know lit up his face, as he looked forward to his future.

...


End file.
